


Both Ache Less

by rymyanna



Series: Ache [4]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Compliant, Developing Relationship, Emotional Constipation, Family Issues, Friendship, Gen, M/M, Magic, Mutual Pining, Post-Season/Series 02, Soul Bond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 16:27:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19066327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rymyanna/pseuds/rymyanna
Summary: Dark Magic has benefits and setbacks, and while Viren is curious about what those are when combined with his new understanding of the Moon Arcanum, he also wants to go do his own thing for a bit. Aaravos offers his help, but distance makes the heart grow fonder and all that. (continues Both Four)





	Both Ache Less

**Author's Note:**

> It's one of these again. I really glad people read them, though I'm in so deep that I'd just write these oneshots for myself anyway. Idk, it's relaxing?  
> Read, hopefully feel something, leave me some words in return.

It was more difficult to cut his own hair in the light of the full moon than he had anticipated. He supposed he would just have to wait until daybreak to do a detailed trim.

“If I may ask,” Aaravos trailed off as he joined Viren. 

“I’m conducting an experiment.” Viren placed down his knife and gathered the hair into a pouch. “Things connected to the primal sources can be used for magic, and I’m connected to the moon primal now. There’s no research into what human parts do, for obvious reasons, and my moon magic is much weaker by the day or when the moon is waning,” he explained. “So I might need a little boost and the one source I’ll always have available is me, I just need to find out if it can be done and how.” Finished with storing away his hair, he looked up at Aaravos. His friend was staring at him, mouth slightly open, before he seemed to catch himself.

“That is a fascinating hypothesis.”

“Oh,” Viren felt his face heat up. “Thank you.” He knew it was interesting; that was why he was studying it, but he couldn’t remember the last time someone had complimented him on anything magic related. “Do you think there’s something to it?” 

Aaravos shrugged one shoulder, “It is worth the attempt. I would certainly be interested in seeing the results.” 

Viren grinned. Experimenting with magic was something he, as a young man, had taken great joy in. Later on in life, it had become a means to an end; there hadn’t been time to do magic for magic’s sake. Now, he might even have a research partner. 

“I recommend caution,” Aaravos said, brushing his fingers through the close cut hair on the side of Viren’s head. It wasn’t as even as he’d like, but that had nothing to do with him leaning into the touch. “You could take it too far.” 

“Don’t worry, I’ll just use some hair and spit and other things easy to collect,” Viren promised him. He had no interest in cutting off any body parts that wouldn’t grow back. 

“No stabbing yourself.”

Viren leaned in a little, “Only for you.” It didn’t count as flirting if he didn’t count it as flirting. 

Aaravos studied his face, looked satisfied with whatever he found there. “That is the one exception I will allow.” 

“Allow.” Viren sat back so he was less in his friend’s orbit. “May I remind you that was your idea?”

“You may not.”

Without thinking too hard about it, Viren shoved him for the cheek. It moved Aaravos back, but with a delay that suggested that he was humoring him. The implications of that sobered Viren up, stunned for a moment that he was allowed to get this close, to talk back, to push, without consequence. But then, putting aside all the cosmic power, they were friends, and Aaravos seemed like he was enjoying himself, and Viren was having a good time, too. So, it was a non issue, _ right? _

Viren cleared his throat, started gathering up his supplies. “It’s late and I was hoping to catch a couple hours of sleep before sunrise.” 

“Of course.” Aaravos got up with him but not to follow. 

After a few steps away and a minor internal debate, Viren called over his shoulder, “You can join me.” He sounded indifferent, but when Aaravos crossed the threshold with him, he was relieved. As they settled in, both on their sides, Aaravos behind him, he felt his friend speak into his ear,

“You allow me such liberties with you.”

He shivered.

(8)

Lujanne found out about their experiments with Dark Magic and was displeased. “With respect, Archmage, I can’t let him stay,” she said, voice firm but stance guarded. 

Aaravos drew himself up, eyes narrowed in contempt. Viren realized, before anyone had time to say or do anything they’d regret, that he needed to step in.

He placed a hand on Aaravos’ arm and his attention snapped to him. “It’s fine, I’ll go.”

Lujanne smiled, but it was strained as she kept glancing between them. “I have enjoyed the company, but it will be a relief to have you gone.”

“Thank you for your hospitality.” With a shallow bow, he started towards the quest houses. He felt sore at being kicked out, but it was time for him to go check up on the kingdom and his children. 

When he reached his quarters, he began getting his things together. He had more books and spell ingredients than he had had upon arrival, but the same amount of bags. Would Lujanne notice if he borrowed a pillowcase?

A few moments later, Aaravos stepped through the door to survey the process. “You are planning on returning to the castle,” he said.

“Yes.” Traveling with all his things, on foot, wasn’t a fun prospect. Maybe he could get a horse at the village.

“Let me assist you.”

He stopped stuffing things into bags and turned to Aaravos. “No, it’s risky for me to go, if we both do and something goes wrong, there’s a chance of,”  _ war, _ he thought and said, “A diplomatic incident.” He still didn’t know the exact relationship Aaravos had with the rest of the elves.

“Then take my voice with you.”

Viren shuddered at the thought of the caterpillar. As much as he appreciated all Aaravos had done for him, having a bug crawl into his ear was an experience he’d rather not repeat. “It’s kind of you to offer, but I’m going to have to decline.” He was perhaps being a bit meaner than he needed to; Aaravos wanted to help and being denied the opportunity left him looking downcast. Viren had no defenses left. “I could use a lift,” he allowed.

And so, after he was done packing, Aaravos wrapped an arm around his waist and they were off. 

They reemerged in the cabin. Now that Viren wasn’t sick and weakened by the ritual, he could see, when he looked through the window, that their quaint hideout was disguised as a thicket of trees. 

“Do you keep it up across long distances?” he asked, even though he knew that had to be the case. “That’s impressive, you’ll have to teach me.”

“Return to me safe, first.” 

Neither of them let go or stepped away. Aaravos had eyes he could get sucked right in and never find himself again. Viren remembered the starlit night in his temporary bedroom and thought of moths again. At least if he was one, he had touched the flame several times by now and lived. 

“I shall endeavor to,” he swore.

“Hold to that, or I will come fetch you.” It was both a threat and a promise, and in the way Aaravos grinned, Viren could see guards falling to pieces. He felt powerful by association, confident that he could pull this off. And in case he couldn’t, he had someone to fall back on. 

(9) 

There were elves in the castle. The last time there had been elves in the castle, it hadn’t ended well. The important distinction was that these elves were there to negotiate, or so they claimed. Disguised as a member of the staff, Viren caught some whispers about the proceedings, but only a small list of people were allowed into the throne room. Seeing both human and elven guards by the door was a shock.

He went looking for his children instead. He came across Claudia first, just leaving her room. She did a double take and Viren, unsure of how else to signal her, tapped his nose.

Claudia stormed over and shoved him into her room. “You can’t be here,” she whisper-yelled. 

“I’m glad to see you, too.” He let the disguise drop.

She hugged him, the move too sudden for him to react, before letting go just as abruptly. “Dad, I’m serious, we can’t harbor a criminal, not now.”

“I’m not here to stay.”

“Oh.” She looked disappointed. At that moment, Soren came through the door.

“Hey, Clauds, I saw-” he paused to stare in mid sentence. 

“Soren,” Claudia scolded. “How many times have I told you to knock, and close the door.”

“But I aren’t I just about to open the door when I knock?” Soren asked before getting dragged into the room. Claudia let go of his arm to shut the door. “Also, was that servant our dad the whole time?” 

“What? No.” She winked. Soren narrowed his eyes at her, taking a moment to decipher her words. When he did, he glanced around as if someone could be hiding behind the furniture in Claudia’s room.

“Good,” he said. “If I knew someone who was wanted for treason was here, I’d have to arrest him.” He gave his father a meaningful look, like there was a chance that he was unaware of the situation and needed to be warned.

“Yes, of course,” Viren said, careful to keep his tone neutral. “It is important to remain vigilant. Good job.” 

Soren beamed. 

“Tell me more about this treason charge,” he requested.

“Uh, you, I mean, someone made some fake documents, blasted through a bunch of guards, and broke out of prison,” Soren told him. “Oh and stole some stuff the elves want back.”

It appeared that no one outside their family knew about the secret mission he had given Soren. He wouldn’t press it, not now. “Sounds like that’s all of it, then.”

His children exchanged looks. Soren excused himself by saying that he had some guarding to do, and left. 

“I don’t know all of it, but I do know that they want the artifacts you took from the Dragon King and Queen,” Claudia supplied, without being asked, like the bright young woman she was.

Viren scoffed, “They are already getting back the Prince.”

“No, dad, the mirror,” she sounded despairing. “They want the mirror, and if you could just-”

“I no longer have it,” he interrupted. He didn’t know what had happened to the pieces, but presumably Aaravos had either disposed of them or hid them.

“It’s really important, they were furious when they learned it was missing.”

His curiosity was peaked. “Did they say why?”

“Just something about it being a powerful artifact, too powerful for humans to have and so on,” she waved it off. “If you know anything about it, it’d help out with the negotiations.”

“Then propose a trade,” Viren snapped, annoyed at failing to learn anything new, and at the elves for thinking they could make demands. “Their precious artifact for the return of Queen Sarai and King Harrow.” It was an unreasonable request, impossible to fulfill, but he wasn’t prepared to give up anything else. He knew it wasn’t the mirror the elves wanted, it was Aaravos, and they could not have him. 

Claudia stared at him, eyes wide and hurt. He felt a stab of guilt at releasing his anger on the wrong target.

“Not doable, is it?” he questioned, softer. 

Claudia looked down. “Well, it’s not up to me, anyway. The elves don’t like me.”

“It’s not you,” he reassured. “Most elves look down on Dark Magic.” So far, he only knew one exception. “And their hang ups have nothing to do with you, personally.” That made her smile at least a little. 

They did some catching up, with Soren sneaking in and out a couple times. Viren was careful not to mention anything about Aaravos; it’d be safer for his children to not know. Before long, the sound of horns echoed through the courtyard.

“Oh, right, I forgot,” Claudia said, startled out of her story. “They close the castle down around sunset, no one’s allowed in or out.” 

“That would have been nice to know beforehand.” He’d have to find an unoccupied room to spend the night, slip out in the morning. It was possible that Aaravos knew, and had just elected to not tell him. 

“Sorry.” She looked thoughtful. “No one’s staying in your old rooms, but there is a guard who checks them every once in a while.” 

“A human guard?”

“Yes?”

“Then it won’t be a problem.” Humans were much easier to fool with illusions, especially ones uneducated in the ways of magic. 

His rooms were ransacked and the things he hadn’t taken with him were gone. The bed was still there, dustier than he remember it but just as comfortable. It was too bad he couldn’t fall asleep. The unprecedented political situation mixed with his rooms having become alien to him in ways while remaining familiar in others, was bothering him.

Also, he’d have to admit, he hadn’t slept alone in quite some time. By himself, lying on his side, he placed his hand on the scar, closed his eyes, tried to relax. There was no comforting weight of another body, no head resting on him.

Frustrated, he turned to lie on his back and glare at the ceiling. 

He had missed Harrow, and him being gone had hurt him more than he had been willing to acknowledge. However, while they had both been alive and separated, there had never been a person-shaped void where his friend should be. There had never been one after his wife left him, either. 

It would have been a terrible idea, but he wished he had let Aaravos come with him. So he could see what his friend would do, how he would act around the other elves. So he could introduce him to his children, so he wouldn’t have to spend the night alone. 

He lay there and ached.  

(10)

At the break of dawn, the horns sounded again. Viren was already up, waiting for his chance to slip away. 

The elven ambassadors were up and about, but he avoided them by choosing narrow side corridors he knew by heart. They were guarded when they hadn’t been, in the past, so he kept his head down, hand clasped on the pouch of his own hair. The illusion was cruder than it was at night, but it should suffice. 

Viren made it out. Before he could make it far, he noticed someone after him. Walking faster to get to the cover of the trees, he made a duplicate to run through some bushes ahead and slipped into the shadows. It was a momentary reprieve, he didn’t expect the guard to be fooled for long. 

There was a shift in the air behind him.

“You promised to return safe.”

Viren breathed a sigh of relief and turned to face Aaravos. “I am safe, as you can see.”

Aaravos looked him over, face unreadable. “Let’s prolong the chase, then.” He took Viren’s hand, pointed it towards where the soldier had run and drew the runes with him. It was reminiscent of the last time he had channeled magic through Viren, but this time Aaravos was more of a backup power source, providing focus and an extra kick. Even though the borrowed power was a mere fraction of his friend’s reserves, it was still a shock to have it travel through him again.

The soldier was in for a real workout. 

“That was,”  _ amazing, _ “I’ll have to figure something out if I want to do that on my own.” He had a few ideas he could try, and only some of them involved drawing his own blood. Looking at their connected hands brought the night before to the forefront of his mind.

“Come.” Aaravos pulled him towards the cabin. “You can tell me all about it.”

“Ah, that’s, probably a good idea to not just stand here.” Viren followed him, unsure of what “it” Aaravos meant. “Well, I couldn’t get close to the negotiations, but according to servant gossip, there has been some yelling involved. It’s a tense situation, everyone’s on high alert,” he explained as they stepped inside. “My daughter told me the elves want the mirror back.” 

Aaravos sat on the edge of the bed, smirking. “Let them have it.”

“Yes, well, I doubt it’d be a good move, politically, to just throw the pieces at them.” He thought about taking one of the chairs, but decided that was the move of a coward, and sat next to Aaravos instead. 

“It would be funny.”

Viren enjoyed the thought. “I’d love to be there, to see the looks on their faces.” They shared some vengeful glee, smiling at each other.

“You look tired,” Aaravos observed, and maybe it was just Viren’s mind playing tricks on him, but he got the impression that Aaravos knew. There was something dancing behind his eyes.

“I had trouble sleeping.” He took care to not say anything stupid like,  _ I missed you _ or _ I wanted you with me. _

“You can rest here for a while, but we need to move soon.”

“I agree.” Too many elves around, one was more than enough. 

Moving so he could lie down, careful not to kick his companion, he got one of his legs on the bed behind Aaravos and one on his lap. “Rest with me.” He felt accomplished when Aaravos followed his pull, down so they were chest to chest, with his friend’s face resting in the crook of his neck, almost squashed into the pillow. Eyeing the points of Aaravos’ horns with concern, he flicked the tip of his ear since it was right there. Aaravos made a sound, but it was muffled against his shoulder and the pillow, and wrapped his arms around Viren.

It could have been uncomfortable, being pinned down, and risking having his eyes poked out during their nap. Instead, he felt like he was where he was supposed to be. The feeling was both scary and reassuring. 

“Aaravos?” he spoke, keeping his voice down.

“Mm.”

“Can we go somewhere by the ocean?” He hadn’t been near the coast in such a long time, and the surface of the water would reflect the stars and the moon when the rest of the world was dark. There had to be something to that. A nice visual, at the very least. 

Aaravos lifted his head for easier eye contact. “If you want.”

“I do want.” He gathered his courage, lifted his head up enough for their lips to catch. A soft, brief brush, then another as Aaravos returned the affection. 

  
  



End file.
